Learning Presenting Skills by Learning to Swim

To teach swimming, coaches take novices through the component skills in progressive stages. The first lesson takes place out of the water, at the side of the pool, where the novice learns the arm stroke and the leg stroke separately. Then the novice gets into the shallow end of the pool and practices the arm strokes and leg strokes, still separately, but now with training equipment — flotation devices, kick boards and the rungs of a ladder — to develop the skills further. As the training progresses, the novice puts aside the equipment and swims, first in the shallow end of the pool, then the deep end, and finally, in a lake or ocean. The fundamental aspect of this approach is to deconstruct the basics and then to reconstruct them progressively. It works in swimming — as it does in all sports — and it works in presentations.

I have learned over the years to teach delivery skills in progressive stages, very much in the same manner that swimming coaches teach swimming; an approach that produces an unexpected benefit for presenters in the development of their stories.

In the delivery skills session of our presentations-training program, we begin the deconstruction by excluding slides from the session. The initial impetus for this approach was two-fold:

• to reduce the complexity of the exercises (like the swimming lesson on dry land) • to reinforce the primacy of the presenter over the slide show

Just as swimming lessons involve multiple repetitions, so too, do we ask our participants to repeat a short pitch several times. The unexpected benefit is that, as presenters develop their delivery skills, they also improve their narrative flow. The reason this occurs is also two-fold:

Slides, as they are conventionally designed today, hinder rather than help presenters. The all-too-common complexity of the slides forces presenters either to skim over them or, in the worst case, read them verbatim. This unholy alliance also fragments the narrative because each slide is discussed individually with no relationship to the next. When we exclude the slides in the practice, presenters focus on telling their story, connecting the dots and creating a clear progression.

This is not to recommend that you eliminate slides completely. Given the deep entrenchment of PowerPoint in business today, that would be foolhardy. Instead, use simply-designed slides that serve only to support your narrative and reinforce the primacy of the presenter.

In our coaching sessions, we ultimately bring the slides back into our exercises, the equivalent of putting the novice swimmer into the water. Then, having developed each component of each skill separately, a presenter can integrate all of them into a presentation.

Here’s how you can use the deconstruction/reconstruction process to develop your presentation:

• First, create a clear and logical narrative. • Then design slides to illustrate your narrative. • Combine your story and slides in a verbal run-through of your presentation, but do it seated in front of your computer screen so that you don’t have to think about your eye contact, gestures, posture, or voice. • Do another run-through standing up in a vacant conference room, presenting to the empty chairs as if they were filled with audience members. This time, focus on your eye contact, gestures, posture, and voice. • Do a dress rehearsal to colleagues or friends, integrating all the components. • Dive into the water and swim like a fish.